In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Highlander are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Explorer doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Highlander has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Explorer doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Both the Highlander and the Explorer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Highlander is safer than the Ford Explorer:
|
Highlander |
Explorer |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
55 |
65 |
Chest Movement |
.3 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
79 G’s |
161 G’s |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
37 G’s |
38 G’s |
Hip Force |
152 lbs. |
604 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Highlander its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 113 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Explorer is only a standard “Top Pick” for 2019.